BABY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

David  Freedman 


THE  INCUBATOR  BABY 


THE 

INCUBATOR  BABY 


BY 

ELLIS   PARKER   BUTLER 

AUTHOR  OF  "  PIGS  is  PIGS,"  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATIONS  BY 
MAY    WILSON    PRESTON 


FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 

1906 


Copyright,  1906 

BY  FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

(PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA) 

PUBLISHED,  SEPTEMBER  1906 


PS 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Dozens  of  faces  peered  at  her  curiously 

Frontispiece 


FACING 
PAGE 


"But  if  the  day  comes  when  she's  en 
tered  to  creep,  and  she  don't  creep, 
what  am  I  going  to  do  about  it?"  48 

Chiswick  tied  her  to  the  head  of  the 
crib  with  a  slip  of  antiseptic  bandage  56 

Mr.  Fielding  was  on  his  hands  and 
knees  playing  "  peek-boo !"  ...  64 


On  the  sunniest  slope  of  the 
garden  of  Paradise  the  trees 
stand  in  long,  pleasant  rows. 
The  air  is  always  balmy,  and 
the  trees  are  forever  in  bloom 
with  pink  and  white  blossoms. 
From  a  distance  the  trees  look 
like  apple  trees,  but,  close  at 
hand,  you  see  that  the  pink  and 
white  blossoms  are  little  bows 
and  streamers  of  ribbon  and 
that  the  boughs  are  swaying 
gently  with  the  weight  of  many 
dimpled  babies. 

Walking   up    and   down    be- 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

neath  the  trees  are  kind  old 
storks,  and  as  they  walk  they 
turn  their  heads,  looking  up 
ward  to  see  where  there  may 
be  a  sweet  pink  and  white 
baby  ready  to  be  carried  away, 
out  of  the  garden  into  the  big, 
strange  world.  It  is  a  vast 
garden,  and  there  are  many 
trees  and  many  storks,  and  every 
moment  there  is  a  whirring  of 
strong  wings  and  a  stork  has 
passed  out  of  the  confines  of 
the  garden  with  the  dearest  gift 
that  Heaven  can  give  to  woman. 
The  storks  are  very  grave  and 
very  careful,  but  that  is  because 
only  storks  of  mature  age  are 
allowed  to  carry  the  precious 
babies.  The  younger  storks 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

may  stand  on  one  leg  and  watch 
their  elders,  or  they  may  hop 
awkwardly  between  the  trees  to 
amuse  the  babies,  but  they  are 
never  permitted  to  pick  the 
babies  from  their  leafy  cradles, 
nor  to  attempt  such  a  delicate 
undertaking  as  flying  away  with 
them  into  the  outside  world. 

But  one  day  the  very  young 
est  of  the  storks  got  into  mis 
chief  and  before  its  elders  knew 
what  it  was  about  it  had  flown 
into  one  of  the  trees.  It  tried 
to  lift  one  of  the  biggest,  plump 
est,  prettiest  of  the  babies,  but 
it  was  such  a  small  stork  it  could 
do  no  more  than  make  the  baby 
sway  to  and  fro  on  its  branch, 
so  it  picked  the  very  smallest 
3 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

baby  on  the  tree,  and  carried  it 
straight  to  the  home  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Vernon  Fielding,  and  left 
it  there  rather  unexpectedly. 

If  ever  there  was  a  surprised 
baby  it  was  Marjorie  Fielding. 
She  did  not  care  for  the  Ver 
non  Fielding  home  in  the  least. 
She  vastly  preferred  Paradise; 
it  was  far  more  comfortable,  and 
she  had  just  made  a  decision  to 
return  there  immediately,  when 
a  very  remarkable  thing  hap 
pened.  It  seemed  to  Marjorie 
that  the  Fieldings  cared  as  little 
for  her  as  she  cared  for  the  at 
mosphere  of  their  home,  for  she 
was  rolled  in  soft  cotton, 
wrapped  again  and  again  in 
flannel  cloths,  and  a  large  man 
4 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

with     soft     hands     carried     her 
away. 

When  she  awoke  she  had  an 
impression  that  she  must  be 
back  on  her  own  twig  in  the 
garden  of  Paradise.  The  air 
was  soft  and  balmy  and  very 
warm,  but  when  she  opened 
her  eyes  everything  was  strange. 
There  were  no  trees,  no  gently 
swaying  branches,  and  no  kindly 
old  storks  parading  below  her. 
Instead,  she  gazed  into  dozens 
of  faces  that  peered  at  her  curi 
ously.  They  were  faces  of  men 
and  women,  and  those  in  the 
back  rows  tried,  by  twisting  and 
turning  and  peering  through 
small  openings,  to  get  as  clear 
a  view  as  those  in  the  front  row 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

had.  There  were  all  sorts  of 
faces  and  they  showed  all  sorts 
of  emotions.  Some  expressed 
the  most  violent  curiosity,  some 
were  softened  by  kindly  pity, 
some  wore  expressions  of  dis 
appointment  as  if  the  show  was 
not  as  interesting  as  they  had 
expected,  and  some  showed  a 
certain  weak  disgust. 

Marjorie  wondered  lazily 
why  they  were  there.  Prob 
ably  they  were  some  amuse 
ment  contrived  by  a  mistaken 
person  for  her  entertainment. 
If  so,  she  wished  the  amusement 
discontinued;  it  had  too  many 
eyes  in  it. 

"Isn't  it  wonderful!"  she 
heard  one  of  the  faces  say. 
6 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

"Before  the  invention  of  incu 
bators  nearly  every  one  of  them 
died,  and  now  they  hardly  lose 
one  in  ten";  and  another  said, 
disdainfully:  "And  to  think  I 
paid  me  decent  money  to  see 
dis!  I'm  easy,  I  am.  Come 
on,  let's  shoot  the  chutes";  but 
one  face,  a  sweet  face,  said: 
"Poor,  dear,  sweet  little  baby. 
It  makes  my  heart  ache,"  and 
Marjorie  liked  that  face.  She 
fixed  her  eyes  on  it  and  for  the 
first  time  in  her  very  few  hours 
of  life  something  in  her  own 
heart  pulled  toward  a  face. 
She  wanted  that  face  to  stay 
there;  it  was  motherly.  That 
was  it,  the  face  was  motherly, 
and  deep  in  the  small  heart  of 
7 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

Marjorie  there  was  a  desire  to 
be  mothered  and  loved,  but  the 
face  passed  on  and  never  came 
back  again. 

From  the  first  day  the  incu 
bator  people  were  proud  of 
Marjorie.  She  was  the  smallest 
baby  of  all  those  in  the  long 
row  of  incubators;  "one  pound 
and  eight  ounces  when  born/* 
the  placard  above  her  incubator 
said;  but  she  grew  rapidly. 
When  she  was  sixteen  days  old 
she  weighed  two  pounds,  and 
after  that  you  could  see  her 
grow.  She  slept  a  great  deal, 
and  was  fed  constantly  and  her 
crystal  palace  was  like  a  little 
hothouse. 

For  several  days,  shortly  after 
8 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

her  arrival,  she  was  greatly  wor 
ried  by  a  man  who  seemed  to 
have  a  desire  to  flirt  with  her. 
He  stood  near  at  hand  all  day, 
and  hardly  took  his  eyes  off  her, 
and  then  only  to  examine  the 
thermostat  that  regulated  the 
heat  in  her  nest.  He  seemed 
to  be  more  anxious  than  the 
nurse  that  Marjorie  should  not 
be  baked  too  brown,  and  from 
time  to  time  he  made  ridiculous 
passes  at  her  with  his  hands  or 
screwed  his  face  into  peculiar 
shapes  that  sought  to  be  amus 
ing.  It  was  most  disconcerting. 
Marjorie  tried  to  appear  un 
conscious  of  all  his  antics. 
When  she  could  not  avoid 
looking  at  him  she  stared  at 
9 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

« 

him  coldly,  but  that  did  not 
seem  to  dishearten  him.  Even 
a  cold  glance  filled  him  with 
joy,  and  once,  when  she  was 
preparing  a  little  cry  and  had 
screwed  her  face  into  the  pre 
scribed  shape,  he  grasped  the 
attendant  by  the  arm  and  ex 
claimed:  "She's  smiling!  Isn't 
she  smiling?'  Marjorie  was 
quite  ashamed,  he  was  so  idiot 
ically  ecstatic.  She  learned  later 
that  he  was  her  father,  and  that 
for  some  reason  fathers  have  a 
right  to  do  that  sort  of  thing. 
In  fact,  it  is  rather  nice  when 
one  gets  used  to  it. 

But  the  great  day  was  the 
day  of  her  mother's  coming. 
The  nurse  had  prepared  Mar 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

jorie  for  it.  "Little  girl,  your 
mother  is  coming  to-day." 

Marjorie  watched  closely  for 
her  mother  all  that  day.  She 
scanned  the  faces  that  came  and 
went,  picking  out  those  she 
thought  might  be  her  mother, 
but  she  could  not  be  sure,  for 
they  all  passed  by.  All  the 
faces  she  chose  were  kind  young 
faces,  and  she  was  rather  sur 
prised  when  her  mother  finally 
came.  She  did  not  recognize 
her  for  quite  a  while. 

A  tall  lady  came  to  the  in 
cubator  in  company  with  the 
nurse.  She  examined  the  incu 
bator  carefully,  and  asked  a 
great  many  questions  about 
temperature,  the  sanitation,  ali- 
ii 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

mentation  and  digestion  and 
other  scientific  things.  She  ex 
amined  the  record  chart  care 
fully,  and  asked  the  nurse  if 
Marjorie's  weight  was  not  in 
creasing  less  than  the  proper 
average,  and  when  the  nurse 
assured  her  that  Marjorie  was 
surpassing  the  average  she  ob 
jected  to  that  and  said  that  she 
had  no  desire  for  her  to  grow 
so  rapidly  she  would  be  soft 
and  pulpy«  Then  she  exam 
ined  the  nurse  carefully  and 
critically  regarding  her  experi 
ence  with  babies,  and  all  the 
while  she  made  notes  in  a  small 
memorandum  book.  She  copied 
everything  on  the  record  chart, 
and  asked  to  have  Marjorie 

12 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

weighed,  and  put  the  weight 
down  in  the  little  memorandum 
book. 

"I  wish  to  be  very  careful 
and  exact/'  she  said,  "for  I  am 
her  mother,  and  if  I  do  not 
look  after  these  things  no  one 
will,"  and  Marjorie  knew  this 
was  her  mother.  She  waited 
patiently  for  the  preliminaries 
to  be  completed  so  that  the 
real  mother  business  could  be 
gin,  but  her  mother  must  have 
been  very  busy  that  day,  for 
she  went  away  without  being 
really  introduced  to  Marjorie. 

Marjorie     was     disappointed. 

She  had  become  used  to   being 

regarded    as    an    entertainment 

tor  the  faces  that  passed  by,  and 

13 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

she  had  become  accustomed  to 
have  the  incubator  people  re 
gard  her  as  a  Case — a  most 
interesting  Case,  to  be  sure,  but 
still  a  Case  —  but  she  did  not 
like  to  have  her  mother  look 
upon  her  merely  as  a  Statistic. 

Her  mother  came  after  that, 
almost  daily  for  a  week,  and 
then  not  so  frequently.  It  was 
not  necessary,  for  the  statistics 
showed  that  Marjorie  was  mak 
ing  progress  favorably,  and  Mrs. 
Fielding  was  a  very  busy  woman. 
She  believed  in  the  broad  life 
for  women,  and  a  woman 
broadens  her  life  by  stepping 
out  of  the  home  occasionally. 
The  home  is  better  for  it. 
When  the  woman  is  not  a  slave 
14 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

to  the  home,  the  home  becomes 
an  ennobled  place,  and  the 
woman  who  can  step  out  and 
bring  back  culture  and  knowl 
edge,  and  broader  views  of  life 
and  things,  is  the  only  woman 
who  can  raise  the  home  to  the 
level  of  the  man's  life.  Science 
and  system  work  wonders  in  the 
home,  as  well  as  in  the  office 
of  the  business  man. 

Mrs.  Fielding  was  not  a  slave 
to  the  home.  I  would  sign  her 
certificate  of  freedom  myself. 
Neither  did  she  look  upon  Mar- 
jorie  as  a  necessary  evil.  She 
was  glad  and  proud  to  be  a 
mother,  and  she  loved  Marjorie, 
and  wished  to  do  all  that  is  in 
a  mother's  power  for  her,  but 
15 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

she  knew  that  many  of  the  old 
notions  about  babies  were  mis 
taken  ideas.  The  incubator  it 
self  proved  that.  Science  and 
system  are  far  more  efficacious 
than  much  of  the  old-fashioned 
granny's  twaddle.  With  the 
help  of  educated  minds  Mrs. 
Fielding  meant  to  give  Marjorie 
an  ideal  mother's  care. 

Marjorie  didn't  care  much  for 
the  broader  life  herself.  She  was 
incorrigibly  like  other  babies. 
She  wanted  to  be  fed  when  she 
was  hungry,  to  sleep  when  she 
was  sleepy,  and  to  be  loved  and 
mothered  and  petted  whenever 
she  was  not  hungry  nor  sleepy, 
and  whatever  a  nickel-plated  in 
cubator  may  be  able  to  do,  it  is 
16 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

not  an  adept  at  kissing.  It  may 
exude  balmy  temperature  better 
than  an  old-style  open  fireplace, 
but  it  is  a  failure  at  wrapping  its 
warm,  soft  arms  around  a  baby, 
and  pressing  its  cheek  against 
a  tiny,  satin  cheek.  The  very 
cast-ironness  of  its  construction 
prevents  it  from  lifting  the  in 
fant  high  in  the  air  until  coos 
and  crows  of  baby  laughter  tell 
of  unsystematic,  unscientific  joy. 
So  Marjorie  adopted  the  fly. 

The  fly  came  one  day  and 
alighted  on  the  glass  door  of 
her  crystal  case  and  winked  its 
wings  at  her,  and  she  blinked 
her  eyes  at  it,  and  after  that 
they  understood  each  other  per 
fectly.  It  knew  she  wanted  to 
17 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

be  amused,  and  it  knew  it  was 
an  amusing  fellow.  It  had  a 
clever  trick  of  shaking  hands 
with  itself  under  its  coat  tails, 
and  as  long  as  she  knew  it,  it 
never  mentioned  a  statistic,  and 
altho  it  walked  all  over  the  ther 
mostat,  it  disdained  to  look  at 
the  figures.  Marjorie  and  the 
fly  became  good  friends.  There 
was  something  very  human  about 
the  fly,  far  more  than  about  the 
constantly  passing  faces  of  the 
sightseers,  or  the  prim,  statistical 
nurse,  or  even  the  systematic, 
broadened  Mrs.  Fielding,  and 
one  day  it  slipped  into  the  incu 
bator  and  alighted  on  Marjorie's 
lips,  and  kissed  her.  Shortly 
after  the  scandalized  nurse  assas- 
18 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

sinated  the  fly,  and  Marjorie 
would  have  mourned  deeply  but 
for  a  new  companion  she  dis 
covered  a  little  while  afterward. 

It  was  shortly  before  she  was 
sufficiently  incubated  to  leave 
her  glass  prison,  and  she  was 
fine  and  plump,  and  had  begun 
to  roll  over  and  bump  her  head 
against  the  glass,  surprising  her 
self  greatly,  for  she  could  not 
see  the  glass.  If  she  had  stayed 
a  little  longer  she  would  have 
been  afraid  to  move  at  all,  for 
wherever  there  was  nothing  to 
be  seen  there  might  be  that 
hard,  smooth  wall  that  hurt  her. 

She  was  lying  flat  on  her 
downy  pillow  one  morning, 
watching  the  faces,  when  some- 
19 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

thing  stirred  at  the  foot  of  the 
pillow.  She  raised  her  head  a 
very  little  but  could  see  nothing, 
but  as  soon  as  her  head  fell  back 
the  thing  moved  again.  She 
was  sure  it  moved,  and  she 
waited  quietly,  and  again  it 
moved.  This  time  there  seemed 
to  be  two  of  the  things.  It  was 
puzzling,  for  the  nurse  never 
allowed  anything  interesting  in 
side  the  case. 

Marjorie  lay  low,  and  pres 
ently,  up,  up,  into  her  range  of 
vision  crept  a  little  pink  and 
white  affair  with  five  short, 
plump  branches,  and  just  behind 
it  arose  another.  She  cooed 
with  pleasure. 

The  things  seemed  quite  tame 

20 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

and  unafraid,  and  they  came 
nearer  until  they  stood  quite  up 
right  on  plump  white  branches. 
Marjorie  reached  out  her  dim 
pled  hands,  which  wandered  a 
little  uncertainly  in  the  air, 
wavering  to  and  fro,  until  one 
came  in  contact  with  one  of  the 
plump,  mysterious  things.  She 
grasped  it  firmly,  and  it  was  soft 
and  pleasant  to  the  touch. 

The  crowd  of  faces  paused 
and  increased  in  number.  They 
seemed  greatly  interested  as  she 
tried  to  catch  the  thing,  and  one 
old  man  offered  to  bet  she 
would  catch  it.  He  was  im 
mensely  tickled  when  she  did 
and  grinned  delightedly.  Mar 
jorie  held  fast  to  her  captive. 

21 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

She  pondered  what  she  should 
do  with  it,  and  finally  decided 
that  it  must  be  edible.  She 
drew  it  closer  to  her  face,  and 
it  resisted  and  tugged  to  get 

DO  D 

away,  but  she  dragged  it  on  re 
lentlessly. 

It  was  a  hard  fight.  The  old 
man  coached  her,  cheering  her 
on  to  fresh  endeavors,  and,  thus 
encouraged,  she  made  one  great 
final  effort  and  pulled  the  soft 
pink  thing  into  her  lips,  and  the 
old  man  laughed  long  and  loud 
and  wiped  his  eyes. 

"Look  at  her!"  he  cried. 
"Just  look  at  her!  Ain't  she  a 
picter  for  you?  I  knowed  she'd 
get  it,  she's  grit  clean  through." 

A  small  boy,  excited   by  the 

22 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

size  of  the  crowd,  pushed  his 
way  to  the  front  and  looked, 
and  then  turned  away,  indig 
nant.  "Huh!'  he  exclaimed 
scornfully,  "'tain't  nut'in'  but  a 
kid  got  its  toe  in  its  mout'!' 

During  her  last  days  in  the 
incubator  Marjorie  and  her  feet 
became  fast  friends.  All  the 
long  period  of  her  loneliness 
was  forgotten  in  this  new  com 
panionship.  Never  were  there 
more  accommodating  playmates 
than  those  two  gentle  twins,  for 
they  seemed  to  be  twins,  they 
were  so  much  alike  in  size  and 
appearance.  They  never  forced 
themselves  forward.  When  Mar 
jorie  wanted  to  sleep  the  feet 
lay  quietly  at  the  foot  of  the 
23 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

pillow,  but  the  moment  she  felt 
like  playing  they  crept  upward 
and  stood  enticingly  in  her  sight. 
Sometimes  she  played  with  one, 
and  sometimes  with  the  other, 
and  whichever  was  not  needed 
curled  up  snugly  out  of  sight 
and  waited  patiently  until  it  was 
needed. 

They  had  glorious  times  to 
gether.  Usually  she  had  no 
trouble  in  catching  a  foot  when 
she  wanted  it,  but  sometimes 
they  played  a  little  game  with 
her,  and  dodged  about  just  be 
yond  her  reach,  coaxing  her  to 
catch  them,  and  eluding  her 
hands  by  the  smallest  part  of  an 
inch,  but  this  only  made  the  fun 
more  riotous,  and  one  of  them 
24 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

always  ended  the  game  by  letting 
itself  be  captured. 

But  one  day  a  wonderful 
thing  happened  to  Marjorie. 
The  nurse  and  the  manager 
came  to  Marjorie's  incubator, 
and  consulted  the  chart,  and 
weighed  Marjorie  and  pinched 
her  arms  and  legs  to  see  whether 
they  were  firm  and  solid,  and 
after  that  the  air  in  the  incu 
bator  lost  a  little  of  its  warmth 
every  day,  until  it  was  as  cool 
as  the  air  of  the  great  outside 
world. 

Marjorie  was  playing  the  foot 
game  when  the  end  came.  She 
had  not  the  least  idea  that  any 
thing  of  the  sort  was  going  to 
happen.  No  one  thought  of 
25 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

consulting  her  convenience  in 
the  matter. 

First  her  father  and  mother 
appeared,  and  she  might  have 
known  that  something  unusual 
was  on  foot  if  she  had  thought 
about  it,  for  they  had  never 
before  visited  Marjorie  simulta 
neously,  but  Marjorie  was  too 
deeply  in  the  foot  game  to  pay 
attention  to  parents.  Parents 
were  a  necessity,  but  the  foot 
game  was  a  joy. 

The  nurse,  who  often  did 
unaccountable  things  to  Mar 
jorie,  did  the  most  unaccount 
able  of  all.  She  took  Marjorie 
from  her  bed  on  the  soft  pillow 
and  dressed  her  in  stiff  new  gar 
ments,  and  enfolded  her  in  blan- 
26 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

kets  and  capes  until  she  was 
like  a  bundle  of  soft  cloths, 
with  only  a  little  peephole 
for  her  eyes,  and  then,  with 
cruelty  unthought  of,  she 
handed  her  bodily  to  Mrs. 
Fielding.  Marjorie  objected. 
She  foresaw  some  trick  in  all 
this.  She  raised  her  voice  and 
protested,  but  they  covered  her 
face  with  a  soft  white  veil. 
Marjorie  indignantly  went  to 
sleep. 

When  she  awoke  the  world 
had  changed.  She  was  in  a 
strange  foreign  land,  where  the 
walls  were  of  white  and  blue 
tiles,  and  the  ceiling  was  white, 
and  the  floor  was  covered  with 
soft  rugs.  It  may  have  been 
27 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

beautiful  but  it  was  not  home. 
There  was  no  incubator. 

There  were  charts  and  steri 
lizers  and  scales  and  thermom 
eters  and  everything  necessary 
for  a  highly  systematized  and 
scientific  nursery,  but  there  was 
no  incubator,  and  there  was  no 
long  line  of  impertinent,  curious 
faces,  constantly  passing  and  con 
stantly  changing.  Marjorie  was 
homesick. 

Mrs.  Fielding  made  the  first 
entry  on  a  brand-new  chart, 
with  triumphant  satisfaction. 
She  epitomized  Marjorie  in  an 
array  of  dates  and  figures.  To 
Mrs.  Fielding  and  Chiswick,  the 
new  nurse,  all  was  well  so  long  as 
the  chart  was  normal.  When 
28 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

the  figures  on  the  chart  were 
abnormal  they  considered  that 
the  baby  in  the  crib  had  trans 
gressed  the  laws  of  system  and 
science,  and  they  paid  her  little 
attentions  in  the  way  of  small 
powders  administered  in  a  tea 
spoon. 

Marjorie  missed  the  nickel- 
plated  trimmings  of  her  incu 
bator  and  she  longed  to  see  the 
procession  of  faces  that  she  had 
seen  so  often.  She  would  have 
given  two  degrees  of  tempera 
ture  and  three  respirations  just 
to  have  a  fat,  greasy  East  Side 
washlady  beam  upon  her  as  in 
the  incubator  days.  Even  the 
occasional  visits  of  her  father 
became  a  joy.  She  hoped  he 
29 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

would  be  sufficiently  weak- 
minded  to  take  her  in  his 
arms,  but  he  was  afraid  to  do 
anything  that  might  affect  the 
beautifully  correct  procession  of 
figures  on  the  chart.  She  tried 
to  soften  Chiswick  with  smiles, 
and  betray  her  father  with 
gurgles,  and  she  even  attempted 
to  astonish  her  mother  by  as 
suming  a  high  temperature  and 
a  low  pulse,  but  all  she  got  was 
a  disreputable  chart  record  and 
a  dose  of  white  powder. 

She  lay  back  and  puckered 
up  her  chin  and  yelled  a  good, 
healthy  baby  yell.  Chiswick 
entered  it  on  the  chart.  She 
added  a  disparaging  remark  to 
the  effect  that  the  cry  was  for 
30 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

"  no  apparent  reason."  It  was 
an  insult,  and  Marjorie  consid 
ered  it  one. 

Where  were  the  pink  and 
white  playfellows?  A  ripple 
shook  the  white  of  her  lace- 
decked  skirt;  two  lumps  arose 
in  it;  they  pushed  upward 
higher  and  higher  until  the  skirt 
slid  back,  and  peeping  over  its 
edge  came  ten  rosy  toes  that 
twinkled  at  her  mischievously. 
Marjorie  held  out  her  hand  ap- 
pealingly,  and  the  two  plump 
feet,  that  had  not  dared  to  ven-x 
ture  into  the  atmosphere  of  the 
scientific  nursery,  cast  aside  their 
hesitation,  and  met  the  waiting 
hands  half  way. 

"  Sakes      alive  !  '       exclaimed 
31 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

Chiswick,  "  if  the  child  isn't 
trying  to  put  both  its  feet  in  its 
mouth! " 

Marjorie  lay  in  blissful  con 
tent;  she  had  found  human 
companionship. 


II 


It  must  be  said,  to  the  credit 
of  incubators  and  science,  that 
Marjorie  was  a  beautifully  nor 
mal  baby.  Mrs.  Fielding  took 
the  greatest  possible  satisfaction 
in  that.  She  was  always  ready  to 
show  Marjorie's  record  charts 
to  visitors,  and  it  was  touching 
to  see  with  what  motherly  pride 
she  exhibited  them.  There  was 
not  another  baby  in  the  town 
that  had  maintained  such  an 
even  temperature,  such  a  steady 
respiration,  or  such  a  reliably 
even  pulse. 

33 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

Mr.  Fielding  was  no  less  proud 
of  the  record.  He  bragged 
about  it  at  the  club  and  tried 
to  induce  his  married  friends  to 
allow  their  babies  to  enter  tem 
perature  matches  with  Marjorie, 
offering  to  wager  two  to  one 
that  Marjorie  could  maintain  a 
normal  temperature  for  a  longer 
time  than  any  baby  of  her  age 
and  weight. 

When  Marjorie  reached  six 
months  Mr.  Fielding  decided 
that  she  deserved  a  reward  of 
merit,  and  he  made  her  a  present 
of  an  oak  filing  cabinet  of  six 
teen  drawers,  together  with  three 
thousand  index  cards.  There 
was  the  food  drawer,  with  cards 
for  every  day  of  the  year,  and 
34 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

places  on  each  card  to  note  the 
time  of  every  feeding,  the  ounces 
of  food  taken,  the  minutes  Mar- 
jorie  required  to  take  the  food, 
the  formula  of  the  food,  and 
the  average  cost  of  food  per 
hour. 

There  was  the  clothing  drawer, 
with  cards  on  which  to  record 
the  weight  of  clothing  worn,  the 
temperature  of  the  air,  the  num 
ber  of  pieces  of  clothing  worn, 
the  method  by  which  the  gar 
ments  were  washed,  and  for  re 
marks  on  the  comparative  good 
effects  of  cotton,  wool,  silk,  and 
linen  garments. 

There  were  cards  for  sleep 
records,  weight  records,  tem 
perature,  respiration,  and  pulse 
35 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

records  —  in  fact  Marjorie  was 
analyzed  and  specified  until  one 
could  tell  at  a  glance  just  how 
many  thousandths  of  an  ounce 
of  food  she  consumed  for  each 
beat  of  her  heart,  or  how  many 
times  she  breathed  per  pound 
of  clothing  worn. 

Unfortunately,  the  nurse, 
Chiswick,  objected.  She  threat 
ened  to  leave.  She  said  her 
professional  training  had  not 
included  card  systems,  and  that 
even  if  she  had  had  a  modern 
business  education,  she  had  no 
time  to  keep  such  multitudi 
nous  records.  Mr.  Fielding 
promptly  engaged  a  private  sec 
retary  for  Marjorie.  Miss  Vick- 
ers  knew  all  about  card  index 
36 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

systems.  She  loved  two  things 
passionately  —  card  systems  and 
babies. 

And  then,  just  when  a  record 
card  had  been  allotted  to  every 
function  of  Marjorie's  pink  and 
white  body,  a  complication  arose. 
Marjorie  developed  a  will  and  a 
temper. 

She  decided  that  she  had 
reached  the  age  when  she  ought 
to  sit  alone.  She  looked  upon 
the  world  and  saw  Chiswick 
sitting  upright  and  Miss  Vickers 
sitting  upright  and  she  longed 
to  sit  upright  too.  For  six 
months  she  had  reposed  docilely 
upon  her  back  or  her  stomach, 
with  occasional  variations  of 
lying  on  one  side  or  the  other, 
37 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

and  she  felt  that  she  had  had 
enough  of  it.  It  was  time  to 
have  a  backbone  and  to  take 
her  place  as  a  sitter.  She  told 
Chiswick  so  plainly  enough. 
When  Chiswick  laid  her  on  her 
back  she  yelled  and  raised  her 
head.  When  Chiswick  laid 
her  on  her  stomach  she  turned 
over  upon  her  back  and  raised 
her  head  and  yelled.  A  little 
more  and  she  would  have  been 
able  to  sit  up  without  aid. 
Her  head  and  her  neck  sat  up 
—  as  far  as  they  could.  At 
least  they  flopped  forward  and 
tossed  from  side  to  side,  but  her 
backbone  would  not  follow.  It 
continued  to  repose  in  placid 
flatness  on  the  pillow.  Mar- 
38 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

jorie  was  very  angry  with  her 
backbone.  She  got  quite  purple 
in  the  face  about  it  at  times, 
and  choked. 

Chiswick  was  very  dense. 
Marjorie's  head  and  neck  ex 
plained  again  and  again  what 
they  wanted  to  do,  but  Chiswick 
could  not  understand  them. 
She  did  not  appreciate  that  it 
was  ambition  —  she  thought  it 
was  colic.  She  pepperminted 
Marjorie  until  the  sight  of  the 
peppermint  spoon  made  Mar 
jorie  tremble  with  rage,  and 
when  Marjorie  had  absorbed 
ounces  and  ounces  of  pepper 
mint  water,  Chiswick  decided 
that  Marjorie  was  past  the  colic 
age,  anyway. 

39 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

Miss  Vickers  discovered  what 
Marjorie  wanted. 

"I  believe,"  she  said,  "that 
the  child  wants  to  sit  up,"  and 
then  she  tried  it.  That  is  why 
Marjorie  loved  Miss  Vickers  and 
hated  Chiswick  —  and  pepper 
mint —  from  that  day  onward. 

It  would  hav-e  all  ended  there 
if  Marjorie  had  been  willing  to 
compromise,  but  she  was  not 
willing.  The  first  day  she 
might  have  been  willing,  but 
when  a  person  has  cried  steadily 
for  three  days  and  has  fought 
such  a  good  fight,  she  feels  it 
her  right  to  dictate  terms.  She 
would  not  compromise  on  an 
angle  of  forty-five  degrees.  She 
refused  to  be  satisfied  with  a 
4o 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

plump,  downy  pillow  at  her 
back.  She  would  sit  upright 
and  alone,  or  yell. 

Not  that  it  mattered  that  she 
sat  upright  and  unsupported, 
except  that  she  could  not.  Miss 
Vickers  would  seat  her  so  and 
steady  her  for  a  moment,  but 
when  the  protecting  hands  were 
removed  Marjorie  unfailingly 
collapsed.  Sometimes  she  sank 
backward  upon  her  pillow  wa 
ving  her  arms  impotently,  but 
usually  she  doubled  disgracefully 
forward  until  her  nose  bumped 
against  her  knee,  or  toppled  to 
one  side  or  the  other  like  a 
pulpy  fallen  idol.  Her  back 
bone  was  irritatingly  pliable  — 
somewhat  like  a  wet  rag  in 
41 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

stiffness.  It  was  a  poor  affair, 
as  backbones  go.  She  might 
quite  as  well  not  have  had  any. 
It  made  Marjorie  remarkably 
angry. 

She  spent  three  entire  days  in 
a  continuous  round  of  being  set 
up  and  crumpling  down  again 
into  the  various  bunchy  shapes, 
and  each  day  her  temper  grew 
more  violent.  For  the  first  time 
in  her  life  she  cried  real  tears. 

Mrs.  Fielding  was  usually 
busy.  Her  club  life  was  en 
grossing,  but  when,  for  three 
days  in  succession,  the  index 
cards  bore  the  words  "Cried  all 
day,"  she  felt  it  her  duty  to  in 
vestigate.  She  went  to  the 
nursery,  indignant. 
42 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

"Well,  mam,"  said  Chiswick, 
"  I  don't  know  how  to  stop  her. 
My  opinion  is  that  it's  temper. 
She  will  sit  up,  mam,  and  she 
can't.  We  set  her  up,  like  she 
wants,  and  then  she  topples  down 
and  hollers.  She  hollers  if  we 
do  and  she  hollers  if  we  don't. 
You  can  do  a  thing  or  you  can 
leave  it  undone,  and  there  ain't 
nothing  else  you  can  do.  There 
ain't  anything  between  them  two 
ways.  If  there  was  we  might 
suit  her." 

"You  should  distract  her  at 
tention,"  said  Mrs.  Fielding. 

"She  won't  distract,"  declared 

Chiswick.      "She   made   up   her 

mind    to    sit   up   alone  —  which 

she    can't  —  and    she   gets    in   a 

43 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

temper  over  it,  and  her  temper's 
getting  worse  right  along." 

Mrs.  Fielding  looked  at  her 
daughter  doubtfully. 

"Perhaps  she  needs  a  little 
punishment,"  she  suggested, "  but 
I  am  not  sure  that  the  latest  au 
thorities  approve  of  punishment. 
I  will  let  you  know.  I  should 
like  to  consult  others  before 
acting." 

Mrs.  Fielding  laid  the  matter 
before  the  Mothers'  club  at  its 
next  meeting.  She  found  the 
Mothers'  club  to  be  frankly  and 
openly  divided  on  the  question. 
Mothers  who  had  at  first  held 
the  most  modern  ideas  had  fallen 
into  laxly  illogical  methods,  and 
instead  of  taking  broad  views  of 

44 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

the  infant  as  a  theoretical  sub 
ject,  had  become  rank  individual 
ists.  Mrs.  Jones  could  talk  only 
of  Johnny  Jones  and  Mrs.  Smith 
argued  all  questions  to  and  from 
Susie  Smith.  Mrs.  Fielding  found 
no  satisfaction  there  and  at  length 
appealed  to  the  monthly  convo 
cation  of  the  local  federation  of 
Women's  clubs,  which  included 
the  best  intellect  of  all  the  women 
of  the  city.  When  the  federation 
had  finished  considering  the  ques 
tion,  Mrs.  Fielding  found  that 
she  was  one  of  a  committee  of  four 
appointed  to  direct  the  growth  of 
Marjorie  in  mind,  body,  and  soul. 
The  federation  had  undertaken 
to  guide  Marjorie  through  the 
pitfalls  of  infancy. 
45 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

Miss  Martha  Wiles,  of  the 
Browning  club,  was  made  chair 
man  of  the  committee;  Miss 
Vesey,  of  the  Higher  Life  circle, 
and  Miss  Loring,  of  the  Physical 
Good  guild,  were  members  of  it, 
and  Mrs.  Fielding  was  added  at 
the  last  moment  to  represent  the 
Mothers'  club  because  the  other 
members  of  the  Mothers'  club 
said  they  had  enough  to  do  to 
look  after  their  own  babies. 

When  the  committee  con 
vened  in  the  Fielding  nursery 
to  consider  Marjorie's  temper, 
Marjorie  greeted  it  with  a  sweet 
smile.  The  committee  sat  on 
the  sofa  and  Marjorie  sat  in  her 
crib.  She  had  conquered  her 
backbone  and  was  on  good 
46 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

terms    with    it    and    the    world 
again. 

The  committee  entered  upon 
its  duties  enthusiastically.  It  be 
gan  by  studying  the  records  of 
Marjorie.  It  met  daily  to  adopt 
rules  and  regulations  and  spent 
hours  over  the  card  cabinet  until 
it  became  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  Marjorie's  averages.  Then 
it  made  out  a  schedule  of  normal 
development  for  mind  and  body. 

Chiswick  viewed  the  schedule 
skeptically. 

"It's  a  nice  schedule,  mam, 
I'll  say  that  much  for  it,"  she 
said,  "but  if  the  day  comes  when 
she's  entered  to  creep,  and  she 
don't  creep,  what  am  I  going  to 
do  about  it?" 

47 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

"It  is  your  duty  to  see  that  she 
does  creep/'  said  Miss  Wiles. 

"Very  well,  mam,"  said  Chis- 
wick,  "but  may  I  ask  one  ques 
tion?" 

"  You  may.  It  is  your  duty  to 
ask  questions.  Refer  all  your 
doubts  to  the  committee,"  replied 
Miss  Wiles. 

"Then,"  said  Chiswick,  "an 
swer  me  this.  On  page  six  of  the 
records  of  the  committee  it  says: 
4  Whereas,  the  lower  strata  of  air 
i-n  a  room  are  the  abiding  places 
of  millions  of  germs;  and  where 
as,  children  playing  upon  the  floor 
must  breathe  the  said  air;  and 
whereas,  children  playing  upon 
the  floor  take  into  their  mouths 
and  convey  thence  to  their  stom- 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

achs  the  said  germs,  as  well  as 
pins,  lint,  needles,  buttons,  and 
other  indigestible  and  highly  in 
jurious  substances.  Therefore,  be 
it  resolved,  that  the  said  Marjorie 
Fielding  shall  never  be  allowed  to 
sit,  lie,  recline,  or  rest  upon  the 
floor,  nor  upon  any  rug,  blanket, 
or  other  covering  upon  the  said 
floor.'  What  I  want  to  know  is, 
how  the  child  is  to  learn  to  creep 
if  she  isn't  to  be  allowed  on  the 
floor." 

The  committee  looked  at  it 
self  questioningly.  Miss  Loring 
giggled.  Miss  Wiles  alone  saved 
the  day. 

"You  will,  of  course,"  she 
said,  haughtily,  "give  the  child 
her  lessons  in  creeping  upon  a 
49 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

table.  Mrs.  Fielding  will  see 
that  one  is  provided." 

When  the  committee  was 
gone  Chiswick  walked  over  to 
the  crib  where  Marjorie  lay  and 
looked  at  her  doubtfully.  Ac 
cording  to  the  schedule  a  creep 
was  due  from  Marjorie  in  six 
weeks  and  Marjorie  had  only 
learned  the  art  of  sitting  alone. 
Sitting  alone  at  seven  months  is 
not  bad  progress  for  an  incu 
bator  baby  and  Marjorie  was 
rather  proud  of  it. 

"Well,"  said  Chiswick, "you've 
got  to  do  it,  and  if  you've  got  to 
do  it  you  might  as  well  begin 
to  learn  now." 

Marjorie  was  lifted  and  de 
posited  upon  her  rotund  little 
50 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

stomach,  which  protruded  so 
much  that  she  rocked  back  and 
forth  upon  it  like  a  helpless 
hobby  horse.  She  looked  up  at 
Chiswick  appealingly  but  saw 
only  a  stern  taskmistress. 

"Lie  that  way  a  while,"  said 
Chiswick  coldly.  "Get  used  to 
it,"  and  she  went  away. 

Marjorie  laid  her  cheek  on  the 
cool  sheet  and  thought.  It  was  a 
rather  pleasant  position.  It  gave 
hera  comfortablecompressed  sen 
sation  below  the  waist.  She  liked 
it  but  she  could  not  afford  to  be 
idle.  She  raised  her  head  and 
peered  around,  as  a  tortoise  peers, 
lengthening  her  neck.  A  foot  be 
yond  her  reach  she  saw  her  rattle. 
She  stretched  her  hands  for  it  and 
51 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

only  succeeded  in  bringing  her 
pudgy  little  nose  flat  against  the 
sheet.  She  kicked  with  her  feet, 
but  even  that  did  not  bring  the 
rattle  within  reach;  it  only  served 
to  rock  her  gently  to  and  fro  on 
her  stomach.  Marjorie  needed 
the  rattle.  She  had  still  several 
hundred  shakes  to  give  it  before 
her  day's  work  would  be  com 
plete.  And  the  rattle  needed 
Marjorie;  it  looked  forlorn  and 
lonely.  Even  as  she  considered 
the  matter  Marjorie  found  that 
she  was  raising  her  body  on  her 
plump  little  arms.  They  were  act 
ing  like  little  posts  to  elevate  her 
shoulders  and  head.  Then,  in  a 
most  phenomenal  way,  one  knee 
doubled  itself  and  drew  up  under 
52 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

her  body,  and  the  other  followed 
it,  and  she  was  on  her  hands  and 
knees. 

From  this  frightfully  elevated 
position  the  rattle  appeared  quite 
near,  so  near  that  it  seemed  as  if 
she  could  touch  it.  She  put  out 
a  hand,  and  lo!  the  whole  fabric 
of  herself  that  she  had  reared, 
collapsed,  and  she  was  sprawled 
flat  on  the  sheet. 

But  the  rattle  certainly  seemed 
nearer.  She  tried  it  again,  and 
this  time  she  put  her  hand  for 
ward  only  a  little  way,  and  fol 
lowed  it  with  the  other,  but  she 
was  firmly  anchored  at  the  rear, 
and  there  was  no  elasticity  in  her 
body.  It  would  not  stretch  an 
other  inch.  She  thought  of  her 
53 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

legs  reproachfully.  But  for  them 
she  might  even  now  have  the 
rattle.  Her  legs  felt  the  reproach 
and  wiggled  with  shame.  They 
knew  they  were  in  disgrace  and 
they  longed  to  come  closer  and 
nestle  lovingly  against  Marjorie. 
One  of  them  moved  forward 
slowly  and  paused.  Its  fellow, 
fearing  it  was  being  deserted, 
moved  up  beside  it,  but  cruel 
Marjorie  moved  her  hands  for 
ward  again. 

She  could  almost  touch  the 
rattle!  One  more  forward 
movement  of  her  legs  and  — 

Chiswick,  turning,  saw  it  just 

in    time.      She    was    beside   the 

crib  in  one  bound,  and  her  right 

hand  pressed   down  upon   Mar- 

54 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

jorie  and  squeezed  her  deep  into 
the  softness  of  the  crib,  and  held 
her  there  kicking  and  squealing. 

"Land  sakes!'  cried  Chis- 
wick.  "You're  breaking  the 
schedule!  You  can't  creep  now. 
The  idea!  What  will  that  there 
committee  say !  What  will  they 
say  of  you  to  that  federation 
of  clubs!  You  and  me  won't 
have  no  reputation  left.  Don't 
you  ever  creep  till  I  say  so. 
Never!" 

She  picked  up  the  offended 
Marjorie  and  set  her  upright  in 
the  end  of  the  crib.  Marjorie 
rolled  over  upon  her  hands  and 
knees.  She  wanted  the  rattle. 
She  scoffed  at  schedules.  Chis- 
wick  held  her  down  with  one 
55 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

hand  and  reached  for  the  rattle 
with  the  other. 

"  Now  I  've  got  to  watch  you 
day  and  night/'  she  grumbled, 
"or  we'll  be  having  resolutions 
made  about  us,  and  things  voted, 
and  land  knows  what!  You'd 
break  the  whole  constitution  and 
by-laws,  you  would." 

Marjorie  smiled  gleefully,  and 
struggled  to  free  herself.  Chis- 
wick  tied  her  to  the  head  of  the 
crib  with  a  strip  of  antiseptic 
bandage;  and  entered  in  the 
day  book:  "Tried  to  creep;  re 
strained  by  nurse." 

When    the     committee     met 

again   they   passed   a    resolution 

of  thanks   to   Chiswick   for  her 

prompt    action,   and    Marjorie's 

56 


C:'^ 


"Chiswick  tied  her  to  the  head  of  the  crib  with  a  strip  of 
antiseptic  bandage" 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

private  secretary  entered  it  on 
the  records.  As  she  wrote  the 
last  word  she  looked  at  Mar- 
jorie  and  winked,  and  Marjorie 
smiled  wickedly. 

There  were  hours  when  Chis- 
wick  was  off  duty,  and  then  the 
private  secretary  was  left  alone 
in  charge  of  Marjorie,  and  those 
were  hours  of  riotous  living. 
The  private  secretary  was  scien 
tific —  as  a  bookkeeper — but 
as  a  nurse  she  was  ignorantly 
human. 

She  scoffed  at  the  Higher 
Life  for  Women;  she  ate  candy 
and  avoided  as  much  as  possible 
her  physical  good.  She  refused 
to  be  emancipated.  She  had  an 
idea  it  meant  something  in  the 
57 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

way  of  doing  without  lacing  and 
wearing  shoes  a  size  too  large 
for  one. 

So  when  she  was  left  alone 
with  Marjorie  they  had  a  good 
time.  They  sat  on  the  floor 
and  imbibed  germs,  and  they 
did  all  sorts  of  unscientific,  retro 
gressive  things.  Perhaps  that 
was  why  Marjorie  remained  a 
sweet,  cheerful  baby  instead 
of  becoming  a  sour  little  old 
woman. 

One  evening  when  Chiswick 
was  away  the  private  secretary 
and  Marjorie  were  having  a 
romp  on  the  floor  of  the  nur 
sery.  It  was  a  handicap  race, 
a  creeping  match,  and  the  pri 
vate  secretary  was  handicapped 
58 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

by  her  skirts.  The  two  were  so 
interested  that  they  did  not  hear 
the  nursery  door  open.  When 
Marjorie  had  won  the  twenty- 
foot  dash  the  private  secretary 
turned,  and  blushed  with  con 
fusion  and  guilt.  Mr.  Fielding 
stood  in  the  doorway!  A  frown 
darkened  his  brow  and  he  looked 
at  the  private  secretary  with 
severity. 

Miss  Vickers  sprang  to  her 
feet  hastily  and  brushed  out  the 
folds  of  her  skirt. 

"Well!"  exclaimed  Mr.Field- 
ing.  "So  this  is  how  you  be 
have!  This  is  what  you  may 
be  expected  to  do  when  you 
are  trusted  alone  with  the  child ! 
What  do  you  suppose  Mrs.Field- 
59 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

ing  and    the    committee   would 

^ » 
sayr 

The  private  secretary  laughed. 
Marjorie  laughed  and  clapped 
her  hands.  Mr.  Fielding  frowned 
and  picked  Marjorie  up.  He 
put  her  in  the  crib,  and  Mar 
jorie,  rudely  taken  from  her 
playmate  by  this  stern  man, 
lifted  up  her  voice  and  wailed. 
She  turned  red  in  the  face  and 
howled.  There  was  a  swish  of 
silk  skirts  —  which  never  should 
be  worn  in  the  nursery —  a  rush 
of  feet,  and  a  hand  pushed  Mr. 
Fielding  aside.  With  one  sweep 
of  her  arms  the  private  secretary 
gathered  Marjorie  to  her  breast. 

"What  did  you  do   to   her?' 
she   cried.      "  Much    you    know 
60 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

about  babies,  and  all  your  silly 
committees !  ' 

Mr.  Fielding  paused  irresolute. 
Marjorie  cooed  gently  in  her 
protector's  arms,  and  her  father 
looked  at  her  curiously. 

"You  —  you  don't  believe  in 
scientific  motherhood?'  he  said 
to  Miss  Vickers.  He  seemed 
to  be  asking  for  information; 
seeking  light  on  a  question  that 
had  already  raised  itself  in  his 
mind. 

"'Scientific'  doesn't  hurt  any, 
but  it  needs  some  mother  with 
it,"  she  replied.  "  See  her  smile ! ' 

Mr.  Fielding  leaned  forward 
cautiously. 

"She  does,  doesn't  she  ? '  he 
said,  with  curiosity.  "  I  never 
61 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

saw  that  before.  It  is  quite  in 
teresting." 

"It's  great!'  exclaimed  the 
private  secretary.  "You  take 
her  a  minute  and  I'll  show  you 
something  else." 

Mr.  Fielding  took  her,  care 
fully. 

The  private  secretary  clapped 
her  hands  and  Marjorie  looked 
toward  her. 

"  Two  hands,  baby,"  she  said, 
and  the  two  pink  arms  reached 
out  to  her. 

"Well!" exclaimed  Mr.  Field 
ing,  "How  human!' 

"See  if  she  will  do  it  for  you," 
suggested  the  girl. 

Mr.  Fielding  clapped  his 
hands.  "Two  hands!"  he  said. 
62 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

Marjorie  looked  at  him  good 
naturedly.  If  he  was  willing  to 
play  she  could  forgive  every 
thing.  She  reached  out  her 
hands,  and  jumped  toward  her 
father.  Before  he  knew  how  it 
happened,  he  had  pressed  his 
lips  to  her  soft  cheek  and  her 
hands  were  entangled  in  his 
hair. 

When  the  doorbell  rang,  half 
an  hour  later,  Mr.  Fielding  was 
on  his  hands  and  knees  play 
ing  "peek-boo!"  with  Marjorie. 
Miss  Vickers  swept  her  into  her 
crib  and  helped  him  to  arise 
hastily.  Then  she  pushed  him 
toward  the  door. 

"  It  is   Chiswick !"    she  whis 
pered.      "Hurry!" 
63 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

"  Yes!"  he  whispered  in  return. 
«We  —  we  will  keep  this  mat 
ter  private?  It  is  not  necessary 
to  inform  any  one." 

The  private  secretary  watched 
him  nervously  while  he  gave 
Marjorie  a  last,  long  kiss,  and 
then  she  pushed  him  gently  from 
the  nursery.  She  really  had  to 
push  him  out. 

When  Mrs.  Fielding  was  ap 
pointed  to  read  a  paper  on 
Scientific  Motherhood  at  the  an 
nual  convention  of  the  national 
federation  of  Women's  clubs, 
she  accepted  the  task  with  due 
modesty  but  not  without  a  sense 
of  complete  fitness.  Her  mere 
presence  in  the  distant  conven 
tion  city  would  in  itself  be  a 
64 


•i 

bfl 

C 

'•3 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

proof  of  the  correctness  of  her 
theories.  Under  what  other 
system  could  a  mother  leave  her 
young  baby  and  devote  a  week's 
absence  to  club  duties?  She 
felt  quite  at  ease,  however,  for 
the  three  remaining  members  of 
the  committee  of  four  were  in 
charge  of  Marjorie's  welfare,  and 
back  of  the  committee  was  the 
entire  federation  of  her  city. 
She  took  the  train  with  a  grate 
ful  sense  of  freedom. 

It  was  the  opportunity  Mar- 
jorie  had  been  awaiting.  No 
sooner  had  Mrs.  Fielding  left 
the  city  than  Marjorie  raised  her 
temperature  two  degrees,  just 
as  an  experiment.  It  was  wonder 
fully  successful.  It  made  Chis- 
65 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

wick  scurry  around  the  nursery 
with  distracted  concern.  Mar- 
jorie  raised  her  temperature  a 
few  degrees  more  and  Chiswick 
telephoned  for  the  committee. 

The  committee  came,  con 
sulted  and  wondered  what  to  do. 
It  decided  to  await  develop 
ments,  and  went  away  again. 

As  Mrs.  Fielding  sped  toward 
the  place  where  she  was  to  ex 
ercise  the  noble  functions  of  her 
mind,  Marjorie,  in  the  nursery, 
lay  in  the  private  secretary's 
arms,  at  times  sleeping  and  at 
times  with  wide-open,  glassy, 
bright  eyes.  The  private  secre 
tary  was  staying  overtime,  but 
she  did  not  mind  it.  She  was 
glad  to  stay  because  Marjorie 
66 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

was  fretful  and  would  not  let 
Chiswick  touch  her. 

Marjorie  moved  about  rest 
lessly  in  Miss  Vickers's  arms,  try 
ing  fresh  positions  each  moment, 
and  tossing  her  hot  head  from 
side  to  side.  Her  cheeks  glowed 
red,  and  the  same  red  over 
spread  her  forehead  and  gleamed 
through  the  tossed  gold  of  her 
hair.  Where  her  head  touched 
it  the  private  secretary's  arm 
burned  as  under  a  hot  iron. 

The  private  secretary  —  who 
really  had  no  voice  at  all  — 
chanted: 

"  Ma-mie  had  a  lit-tle  lamb, 

Little  lamb, 

Little  lamb, 

Ma-mie  had  a  lit-tle  lamb, 
Its  fleece  was  white  as  snow." 

6? 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

Marjorie  fretted.  She  did  not 
want  to  be  sung  to.  She  did 
not  know  what  she  wanted.  She 
was  not  used  to  being  abnormal 
in  temperature,  it  made  her  pee 
vish,  but  she  was  lovable  even 
so,  for  through  the  peevishness 
stray  smiles  would  creep  —  sick 
little  "  please  —  excuse  —  Mar 
jorie"  —  smiles,  to  show  she  had 
no  hard  feelings,  but  just  one 
great  uncomfortable  feeling. 

"You  dear,  dear,  dear  baby!" 
the  private  secretary  exclaimed, 
and  bent  and  kissed  the  hot 
cheek. 

It  was   a   hard   night   for   the 

private    secretary    but    it   was   a 

treasured  night.      It  was  blessed 

to  feel  the  little   hot   baby  rest- 

68 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

ing  in  her  arms  and  to  be  able  to 
give  up  sleep  and  comfort  and 
everything  for  the  sleepless  child. 

When  the  sun  arose  Marjorie 
had  fallen  asleep,  but  tossed  rest 
lessly,  and  on  her  white  skin, 
from  which  the  fever  had  re 
treated,  thousands  of  bright  red 
spots  glowed  and  glowed.  Mar 
jorie  had  the  measles. 

Chiswick  suggested  sending  a 
hurry  call  for  the  committee, 
but  while  she  was  sending  it  the 
private  secretary  routed  Mr. 
Fielding  from  his  bed.  He  came 
to  the  nursery  in  bath  robe  and 
slippers,  and  dashed  out  again  to 
set  the  telephone  bell  clamoring. 

Before  the  committee  had  its 
pompadours  well  under  way  the 
69 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

good  old  bulky  doctor  was  bend 
ing  over  Marjorie's  crib. 

"Very  severe  attack,"  he  said, 
"  but  not  necessarily  dangerous. 
Keep  her  (and  so  on),  give  her 
(and  so  on).  I'll  drop  in  after 
noon." 

When  the  committee  arrived 
an  hour  later  it  had  nothing  to 
do  but  approve  or  disapprove  of 
what  had  already  been  done.  It 
decided  to  send  Mrs.  Fielding 
bulletins.  Nothing  weak  or  ex 
citing;  just  cool,  calm  statements 
of  facts.  Things  in  the  manner 
of  reports  to  a  fellow  committee 
woman. 

Mrs.    Fielding     received     the 
first  as  she  was  in  the  hands  of 
the  reception  committee. 
70 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

"Marjorie  has  measles.  No 
cause  for  alarm,"  it  said.  She 
frowned.  Why  should  they 
bother  her  with  trifles. 

About  noon  she  received  an 
other  message.  It  read  :  "Pa 
tient's  condition  unchanged.  No 
cause  for  alarm." 

She  crumpled  it  in  her  hand 
and  threw  it  on  the  floor.  It 
had  interrupted  an  inspiring 
conversation  on  the  Higher 
Life. 

When  the  doctor  visited  Mar 
jorie  about  noon  he  sat  fully 
five  minutes  with  her,  which 
was  unusually  long  for  such  a 
busy  man,  and  as  he  left  he 
gravely  remarked  that  he  would 
drop  in  during  the  evening. 
71 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

He  did  not  like  the  way  those 
red  spots  were  fading. 

When  he  returned  he  frowned. 
Mr.  Fielding  was  sitting  on  the 
cribside  holding  one  of  Mar- 
jorie's  hot  hands  and  gently  pass 
ing  his  ringers  over  her  brow. 
The  private  secretary  was  on  her 
knees  at  the  other  side  of  the 
crib.  But  the  doctor  did  not 
frown  at  either  of  these. 

"  I  don't  like  her  condition, 
at  all,"  he  said.  « Not  at  all. 
But  Til  try  to  pull  her  through. 
Telephone  my  wife  I'll  not  be 
home  to-night,  will  you  ? ' 

Marjorie    lay     in     open-eyed 

listlessness,    staring    upward    at 

nothing.      Her  breath  was  short 

and   rapid,   and   her  heart    beat 

72 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

like  the  quick  strokes  of  a  trip 
hammer. 

She  wondered  vaguely  why 
this  strange  thing  was  happen 
ing  to  her,  and  when  the  private 
secretary  touched  her  she  tried 
to  smile,  and  only  succeeded 
in  making  white  lines  about  her 
drawn,  dry  lips. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  when  Mrs. 
Fielding  arose  to  read  her  paper 
before  the  national  convention, 
and  as  she  arose  she  was  handed 
a  telegram.  It  was  from  the 
committee. 

"Patient  seriously  ill.  Best 
possible  medical  attendance.  Do 
not  worry." 

Mrs.  Fielding  read  it  and 
walked  to  the  rostrum.  «  Presi- 
73 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

dent  and  ladies,"  her  paper 
began,  "my  child  is  an  example 
of  the  benefits  of  scientific 
motherhood,"  but  she  did  not 
read  it  so.  As  she  stood  facing 
her  audience,  her  paper  trembled 
in  her  hand,  and  as  she  looked 
at  the  lines  written  upon  it  they 
said  but  one  thing — "Patient 
seriously  ill." 

"  President  and  ladies,"  she 
began,  "  my  child  is  —  my  child 
is — "  The  lines  vanished  and 
she  faltered.  "  My  child,"  she 
said,  "  is  —  is  very  ill  to-night.  I 
must  go,  of  course.  You  must 
excuse  me,"  and  she  turned  and 
fled. 

It  was  rather  odd  that  the 
first  articulate  word  that  Marjo- 
74 


THE  INCUBATOR   BABY 

rie  said  in  her  life  was  uttered 
about  that  time.  She  had  grown 
more  irritable  and  had  pushed 
away  her  father's  hand  and  the 
drink  that  the  private  secretary 
offered  her. 

"What  do  you  want,  little 
girl?"  Miss  Vickers  asked,  and 
Marjorie,  whole  weeks  ahead  of 
her  schedule,  said,  "  Ma-ma." 


75 


Ill 

For  an  incubator  baby,  Mar- 
jorie  handled  the  measles  re 
markably  well.  After  a  first 
reluctant  period  when  she  seemed 
to  prefer  death  to  disfigurement, 
she  blossomed  into  exceeding 
spotfulness  and  rioted  in  soda 
baths,  and  then  she  gently  faded 
into  her  usual  pink-and-white- 
ness.  The  effect  on  her  system 
was  excellent,  but  to  Chiswick, 
her  faithful  nurse,  it  brought 
distress. 

The  world  bows  down  before 
a  sick  baby,  but  a  convalescent 
76 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

baby  puts  its  foot  on  the  neck 
of  the  prostrate  world  and  then 
pushes.  Marjorie  ruled.  She 
demanded  many  things.  She 
insisted  on  being  rocked  to  sleep, 
and  sung  to,  and  being  held 
while  awake,  and  all  manner  of 
things  that  her  governing  com 
mittee  considered  debilitating 
and  antiquated,  and  Mrs.  Field 
ing,  glowing  with  newly  found 
mother  love,  decided  that  Mar 
jorie  must  have  them.  She  felt 
that  a  little  petting  would  not 
harm  the  child,  but  she  was 
afraid  of  Chiswick. 

Chiswick,  like  an   incorrupt 
ible  guard,  was  always   present, 
and   back   of  Chiswick  was   the 
governing   committee,  and  back 
77 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

of  the  committee  was  the  Fed 
eration  of  Women's  Clubs,  and 
back  of  that  was  all  the  great 
theory  of  scientific  motherhood 
and  the  greater  theory  of  the 
Higher  and  Better  Life  for 
Women.  Mrs.  Fielding  felt  that 
the  eye  of  the  world  was  upon 
her,  and  that  Chiswick  was  that 
eye.  The  only  way  to  secure 
freedom  was  to  put  the  eye  out, 
so  she  put  it  out.  She  gave 
Chiswick  an  afternoon  off. 

Chiswick  went  reluctantly. 
She  was  a  lover  of  duty,  and  she 
had  but  one  desire  in  life,  to  see 
Marjorie  keep  to  her  schedule. 

Mrs.  Fielding  and  Marjorie 
had  a  good  time  that  afternoon. 
Marjorie  learned  to  put  her  arms 
78 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

around  her  mother's  neck  and 
to  lay  her  face  close  against  her 
mother's  face,  but  Chiswick  wan 
dered  up  and  down  before  the 
house  disconsolately. 

When  she  was  let  in  she  threw 
off  her  hat  and  dashed  at  Mar- 
jorie  greedily.  She  took  her 
pulse  eight  times  in  succession 
and  refused  supper  because  she 
wanted  to  get  so  many  respira 
tions  and  temperatures  that  she 
had  no  time  to  eat. 

She  was  just  settling  down  to 
a  nicely  scientific  evening  when 
Mr.  Fielding  entered  the  nur 
sery.  Mr.  Fielding  feared  Chis 
wick  as  much  as  he  feared  Mrs. 
Fielding.  He  cast  one  glance 
at  Marjorie,  sweet  and  clean  in 
79 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

her  nightgown,  and  another  at 
the  door,  and  then  smiled  at 
Chiswick.  It  was  a  guileful 
smile. 

"  Chiswick,"  he  said,  "  it  is  a 
beautiful  evening." 

"Is  it,  sir?"  she  asked,  coldly. 

"Beautiful,"  he  returned  with 
great  enthusiasm.  "  Beautiful ! 
I  never  saw  a  finer  night  —  out 
side." 

"You  don't  say!'  she  re 
marked,  but  her  voice  expressed 
the  deepest  unconcern  for  the 
weather.  Mr.  Fielding  moved 
toward  Marjorie.  Chiswick 
quietly  slipped  between  them. 

"  My ! '  Mr.  Fielding  ex 
claimed.  "You  are  not  look 
ing  at  all  yourself,  Chiswick. 
80 


THE  INCUBATOR   BABY 

You  are  overworking.  I  don't 
know  what  Mrs.  Fielding  can 
be  thinking  about  to  let  you 
wear  yourself  out  so.  You  are 
so  faithful,  so  —  " 

Chiswick  shook  her  head. 

"I  don't  want  no  outing," 
she  said,  sullenly.  "I've  had 
one.  I  don't  need  no  more. 
I'm  well." 

"Really,"  said  Mr.  Fielding, 
"a  little  run  in  this  fresh  eve 
ning  air  would  do  wonders  for 
you;  wonders!  It  would  quite 
set  you  up  again.  You  must 
think  of  your  health,  Chiswick." 
He  eyed  Marjorie  longingly. 

"  No,  thank  you,"  said  Chis 
wick.  "I'll  try  to  get  along." 

"Chiswick!"  said  Mr.  Field- 
Si 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

ing.  "I  insist.  You  may  neg 
lect  your  health  if  you  wish,  but 
I  cannot.  What  would  Mar- 
jorie  do  if  you  should  get  sick 
—  and  die?  I  insist  that  you 
must  go  out  for  a  little  consti 
tutional.  Say  for  two  hours,  or 
three,  if  you  wish." 

Chiswick  balked  and  Mr. 
Fielding  gently  put  his  hand 
against  her  shoulder  and  pushed 
her  to  the  door.  She  gave  a 
last  longing  glance  backward 
into  the  nursery  and  went.  For 
two  hours  she  sat  desolately  on 
the  horse  block  and  then  sadly 
entered  the  house  with  a  cold  in 
her  head. 

Marjorie  was  asleep,  but  when 
she  heard  Chiswick's  tread  she 
82 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

sighed  and  held  up  one  soft 
hand.  Chiswick  clasped  it — 
and  took  her  pulse. 

The  next  morning  Miss 
Vickers  looked  up  from  her 
task  of  filling  in  the  record 
cards  for  the  previous  day  and 
smiled  at  Chiswick.  It  was  un 
usual,  for  they  were  not  the 
best  of  friends,  and  Chiswick 
hardened  instantly. 

"I'm  looking  sick,  ain't  I?" 
she  said,  defiantly.  "  I  need  air, 
don't  I?  I'll  lose  my  com 
plexion  if  I  don't  go  out  and 
sit  a  few  hours  on  that  stone 
horse  block,  won't  I?  Huh! 
Not  for  you!  No,  mam,  I'll 
out  in  the  afternoon  for  Mrs. 
Fielding,  and  I  '11  out  in  the  eve- 
83 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

ning  for  Mr.  Fielding,  if  I  have 
to,  but  I  won't  out  in  no  morn 
ing  for  no  private  secretary.  Not 
much?" 

"I  only  thought,"  said  Miss 
Vickers,  sweetly,  "that  perhaps 
you'd  like  to  take  a  little  fresh 
air.  I  don't  mind  tending  Mar- 
jorie,  if  you  would." 

"I  wouldn't,"  said  Chiswick, 
shortly. 

"  Oh ! "  said  Miss  Vickers.  She 
wrote  rapidly  for  a  few  moments. 
"  By  the  way,"  she  said,  between 
cards.  "I  forgot  to  tell  you  —  " 
she  wrote  in  a  temperature  — 
"that  the  committee" — another 
card — "said  that  a  new  steri 
lizer  is  needed"  —  another  rec 
ord  written — "and  said  to  tell 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

you  to  get  one"  —  another  card 
— "this  morning." 

Chiswick  threw  the  baby 
clothes  she  held  in  her  hand 
upon  the  crib  with  more  than 
necessary  violence.  She  jammed 
her  hat  on  her  head  and  stuck  a 
hat  pin  through  it  vindictively. 
She  ran  all  the  way  to  the  drug 
gist's  and  back,  and  as  she  en 
tered  the  house  she  glanced  at 
the  horse  block  spitefully.  Mrs. 
Fielding  met  her  at  the  door. 

"Chiswick,"  she  said,  "I'm 
going  to  let  you  have  another 
afternoon  out  to-day." 

Marjorie  enjoyed    Chiswick's 

outings.      She   found    herself  in 

a  world  where  people  did   nice 

things  to  her,  and  her  appetite 

85 


THE  INCUBATOR   BABY 

for  petting  became  a  vice. 
When  entertainment  stopped 
she  doubled  up  her  fists,  closed 
her  eyes  and  yelled.  Some 
times,  if  her  demands  went  long 
unanswered,  she  held  her  breath 
until  she  was  purple  in  the  face. 
Against  such  a  plea  only  Chis- 
wick  could  remain  obdurate. 
She  seemed  absolutely  incor 
ruptible,  but  she  was  not.  Every 
woman  has  her  price. 

It  was  an  afternoon  of  the 
meeting  of  the  federation  and 
Mrs.  Fielding  was  out.  Miss 
Vickers  was  out,  too,  and  Chis- 
wick  was  happy.  She  did  not 
have  to  take  an  outing. 

Marjorie  sat  on  the  sterilized 
floor  and  planned  the  downfall 
86 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

of  Chiswick.  She  wanted  to  be 
rocked  asleep,  and  that,  like 
Mary's  little  lamb,  was  against 
the  rule.  Scientific  babies  are 
laid  in  the  crib  and  go  to 
sleep  without  rocking.  Marjorie 
wept. 

She  began  by  rubbing  her 
eyes  with  the  back  of  her  chubby 
fists  and  yawning  until  her 
mouth  was  a  little  pink  circle. 
That  was  to  tell  Chiswick  she 
was  sleepy.  Chiswick  put  her 
in  the  crib. 

Marjorie  sat  up  and  whim 
pered,  pausing  from  time  to  time 
to  look  at  Chiswick.  Chiswick 
remained  calm  and  indifferent. 
Marjorie  lay  back,  stiffened  her 
limbs  and  yelled.  Chiswick  was 
8? 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

not  affected.  Marjorie  rolled 
over  on  one  side,  raised  her 
voice  an  octave,  and  shrieked, 
beating  the  side  of  her  crib  with 
her  fists.  She  became  purple  in 
the  face.  Chiswick  paid  no 
attention. 

Marjorie,  disgusted,  became 
suddenly  quiet.  She  feigned 
meekness.  She  sat  up  in  her 
crib  and  smiled.  She  pretended 
that  sleep  and  rocking  were  far 
thest  from  her  thoughts.  She 
coaxed  to  be  put  on  the  floor. 
Chiswick  yielded  so  far,  as  a  re 
ward  of  merit. 

Without  an  instant's  hesitation 
Marjorie  crept  to  the  rocking 
chair  that  stood  in  one  corner  of 
the  room  and  tried  her  latest 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

and  most  famous  trick.  It  was 
a  trick  of  which  she  was  justly 
proud.  When  she  had  done  it 
for  her  mother  she  had  been  de- 
liciously  hugged,  and  it  never 
failed  to  win  a  kiss  from  her 
father.  True,  she  had  always 
performed  it  with  the  assistance 
of  a  crib  leg,  but  the  rocking 
chair  looked  serene.  Marjorie 
could  stand  on  her  own  legs, 
with  something  to  hold  to,  and 
she  was  going  to  do  it  for  Chis- 
wick. 

She  raised  herself  on  her  knees 
by  the  chair,  and  grasped  it 
firmly  by  the  seat.  Cautiously 
she  drew  a  foot  up  under  her 
and  tested  her  knee  strength. 
It  was  good.  She  raised  herself 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

carefully  and  slid  the  other  foot 
beside  its  companion,  stiffened 
her  knees  and  was  standing  up 
right  !  It  was  glorious !  She 
turned  her  head  to  see  how 
Chiswick  was  taking  it.  The 
chair  failed  her  basely.  It 
swung  forward  in  an  unaccount 
able  manner  and  developed  a 
strange  instability.  Marjorie 
grasped  it  firmly  and  it  reared 
up  in  front  and  then  dived  down 
again.  She  cast  an  agonized 
glance  at  Chiswick,  staggered, 
grasped  widely  in  the  air  for  a 
firmer  support,  gasped,  and  sat 
down  so  suddenly  that  the  bot 
tles  in  the  sterilizer  on  the  table 
rattled. 

The  chair,  released,  nodded  at 
90 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

her  sagely  once  or  twice  and 
settled  into  a  motionless  and 
fraudulent  appearance  of  sta 
bility. 

Marjorie  was  not  to  be  fooled 
twice  by  the  same  chair.  She 
tried  it  cautiously.  She  put  her 
hand  on  it  and  it  swayed.  She 
took  her  hand  off  and  it  became 
still.  It  was  a  remarkable  mech 
anism.  She  crawled  around  to 
one  side  and  tried  it  there.  It 
was  much  better  so.  She  up 
ended  herself  again,  and  the 
chair,  altho  it  wabbled  distract- 
ingly,  did  not  cast  her  off. 

Chiswick  was  not  duly  im 
pressed.  She  seemed  to  consider 
standing  upright  quite  an  every 
day  matter.  Marjorie  hesitated, 
91 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

looked  at  her  appealingly,  and 
then,  to  overwhelm  her,  released 
one  hand  and  stood  alone,  sup 
ported  by  one  hand  only. 

Suddenly  the  deceitful  chair 
began  to  rock  again.  It  fell 
sickeningly  beneath  her  hand, 
and  arose  again,  only  to  fall  once 
more.  Marjorie  trembled.  If 
all  the  world  should  develop  this 
instability  !  If  cribs  and  floors 
and  walls  should  take  to  sinking 
and  rising. 

She  lost  faith  in  the  inanimate. 
Nothing  was  firm  and  secure 
but  strong,  warm  arms,  holding 
one  firmly.  She  cast  off  her 
remaining  clasp  on  the  chair 
and  in  her  excitement  forgot 
that  she  was  standing.  She  had 
92 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

but  one  thought,  Chiswick  and 
safety ! 

Steadying  herself  for  a  moment 
she  reached  out  her  arms  and 
took  a  step  toward  Chiswick. 
She  swayed  backward,  threat 
ening  to  sit  down  again,  and 
then  in  a  rush  she  took  three 
quick  steps,  bent  forward  and 
fell  flat  on  her  face. 

Chiswick  darted  toward  her, 
but  too  late.  Her  forehead 
struck  the  hard  floor  just  before 
Chiswick  reached  her,  and  she 
screamed  with  fright.  It  was 
true  !  Even  the  floor  had  proved 
false  and  had  risen  to  strike  her. 
Her  heart  broke,  and  then,  be 
fore  she  knew  how,  she  was 
wrapped  in  Chiswick' s  arms  and 
93 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

was  being  rocked  tumultuously. 
Chiswick  had  fallen  from  scien 
tific  grace. 

After  that  it  was  only  a  ques 
tion  of  who  could  do  the  most 
to  spoil  Marjorie.  There  was 
Mrs.  Fielding,  who  was  sure  no 
one  suspected  her;  and  Mr. 
Fielding,  who  carefully  avoided 
publicity  in  his  ministrations; 
and  Chiswick,  who  was  severely 
correct  when  observed  and 
weakly  indulgent  when  alone; 
and  Miss  Vickers,  who  was 
shamelessly  indifferent  to  rules. 
Between  them  Marjorie  had 
quite  a  normal  babyhood,  and 
the  members  of  the  committee 
were  blissfully  unaware  of  it. 
They  regularly  reported  her  pro- 
94 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

gress,  and  bragged  of  her  scien 
tific  upbringing. 

When  Marjorie  reached  the 
age  of  two  years  she  had  cut  all 
her  teeth  and  was  saying  words 
of  one  and  one-half  syllables, 
and  stringing  them  together  to 
form  sentences  that  no  one  but 
her  loving  intimates  could  by  any 
chance  understand.  By  the  di 
rection  of  her  governing  com 
mittee  she  wore  frocks  cut  on 
a  scientific  plan  that  had  origi 
nated  in  the  mind  of  some  per 
son  who  had  a  chronic  aversion 
to  ruffles  and  whose  firm  belief 
seemed  to  be  that  only  the  ugly 
was  hygienic.  Marjorie  wore 
health  garments  that  looked  like 
misfit  flour  sacks,  and  health 
95 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

shoes  that  made  people  stop  and 
stare  at  her  feet.  Her  garb  was 
so  highly  healthful  that  Marjorie 
should  have  bloomed  like  a  rose, 
but  she  began  to  droop  visibly. 
She  became  pale  and  peevish  and 
would  not  eat  her  bran  mash 
and  Infant's  Delight  puddings. 
By  day  she  was  listless  and  by 
night  she  slept  fitfully  and 
awakened  with  screams.  She 
had  no  appetite.  Every  one  was 
sorry  for  her  and  did  little  things 

J  D 

to  please  her  —  on  the  sly. 

In  any  other  child  the  doctor 
would  at  once  have  suspected  a 
wrong  diet,  but  Marjorie's  com 
mittee  had  arranged  her  diet  and 
it  was  beyond  criticism.  The 
doctor  suggested  that  perhaps 
96 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

incubator  babies  were  subject  to 
such  declines.  One  of  the  strictest 
rules  of  the  committee-arranged 
diet  was  "no  sweets."  Candy 
was  absolutely  forbidden.  On 
this  point  the  committee  was 
most  positive. 

Miss  Vickers  considered  this 
a  shocking  cruelty.  She  lived 
largely  on  chocolate  creams  and 
considered  a  candyless  world 
pathetic.  She  pitied  Marjorie, 
and  occasionally,  when  no  one 
was  looking,  she  smuggled  a  fat 
chocolate  into  Marjorie's  willing 
mouth.  Miss  Vickers  believed 
that  a  little  candy  was  good  for 
a  child,  but  she  was  careful  not 
to  give  Marjorie  more  than  she 
thought  was  good  for  her. 
97 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

Mr.  Fielding  was  of  the  same 
opinion.  He  could  not  imagine 
an  unsweetened  childhood,  and 
whenever  he  visited  the  nursery 
he  smuggled  in  a  few  soft  bon 
bons —  the  kind  that  dissolve  in 
the  mouth  and  leave  no  clews. 
Marjorie  approved.  She  had  a 
capacity  for  candy  that  was 
phenomenal.  One  morning  she 
and  her  mother  were  taking  a 
little  toddle  down  the  street 
when  they  passed  one  of  those 
seductive  candy  shops  in  which 
the  basely  knowing  proprietor 
has  the  show  windows  cut  so  low 
that  the  tempting  display  is  very 
near  the  level  of  a  two-year- 
old's  mouth. 

Marjorie  stopped.    She  pushed 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

her  nose  into  flatness  against  the 
window  and  gloated.  She  edged 
back  and  forth  from  one  side, 
where  there  were  chocolate 
creams,  to  the  other,  where  there 
were  pink  bonbons,  and  her  nose 
in  its  course  made  a  clean  streak 
on  the  dusty  window  glass.  She 
paused  hesitatingly  before  the 
floury  marshmallows,  passed  the 
cakes  of  flat  chocolate  without 
qualms,  and  settled  firmly  and 
finally  before  the  pink  bonbons. 
She  refused  to  leave  the 
beautiful  spot.  When  Mrs. 
Fielding  tried  to  draw  her 
away,  her  nose  remained  against 
the  glass  and  she  screamed. 
Mrs.  Fielding  glanced  up  and 
down  the  street  guiltily.  Not 
99 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

a  committee  member  was  in 
sight.  The  street  was  un 
troubled  by  the  feet  of  mem 
bers  of  the  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs.  Mrs.  Fielding 
vanished  into  the  candy  shop. 
It  was  quite  safe  to  leave  Mar- 
jorie  outside;  she  would  remain 
with  her  nose,  and  her  nose 
seemed  permanently  affixed  to 
the  window. 

But  when  Mrs.  Fielding 
emerged  with  a  small  paper  bag 
in  her  hand  Marjorie  turned. 
The  sight  of  one  of  the  delicious 
pink  lumps  of  sweetness  being 
lifted  from  the  bag  drew  her 
away  from  the  window,  and 
when  the  bonbon  was  dropped 
into  her  open  mouth  she  was 
100 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

conquered.  She  followed  her 
mother  gladly.  Wherever  that 
paper  bag  might  go,  ^Marjorie 
would  follow.  The  last  bon 
bon  disappeared  before  they 
reached  home,  but  Mrs.  Field 
ing  continued  to  carry  the  empty 
bag,  and  Marjorie  followed  it. 

"Miss  Vickers,"  said  Mrs. 
Fielding,  as  she  turned  Mar 
jorie  over  to  her,  "you  must 
never,  never  allow  any  one  to  give 
Marjorie  candy.  It  would  not 
be  good  for  her."  Thus  she  tried 
to  secure  a  monopoly  of  Marjorie's 
love,  and  forestall  any  ill  effects, 
but  she  did  not  know  the  depths 
to  which  Chiswick  had  sunk. 
Concealed  in  her  loose  shirt 
waist  was  something  that  rustled 


IOI 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

suspiciously  like  paper  and  that 
made  her  once  care-free  con 
science  cringe  at  every  rustle. 

Naturally,  Marjorie  got  too 
much  candy.  Whenever  she 
was  alone  with  one  of  her  fam 
ily  she  found  candy  appearing 
from  unsuspected  places  about 
their  persons,  and  she  began  to 
like  confidential  little  parties  of 
two. 

It  was  truly  joyful  to  see 
Marjorie  eat  candy.  She  was 
not  greedy.  At  least,  she  did 
not  look  greedy.  She  looked 
surprised  and  pleased.  She 
never  seemed  so  soulful  and  sin 
less  as  at  the  moment  when  her 
pink  lips  closed  over  a  bonbon. 
At  such  a  moment  she  seemed 
1 02 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

to  forget  the  world  and  to  live 
in  a  more  blessed  sphere.  The 
committee  was  particularly  strict 
about  candy.  It  made  the 
most  positive  rules  against 
candy  and  had  them  pasted  on 
the  walls  of  the  nursery,  and 
then,  during  its  calls,  each  of  its 
members  skirmished  to  be  the 
last  to  leave.  The  last  out  of  the 
room  usually  dropped  a  piece 
of  candy  into  Marjorie's  mouth. 

Her  indisposition  was  a  glori 
ous  opportunity  for  the  candy 
givers.  Everybody  had  a  good 
excuse  for  going  to  the  nursery  as 
often  as  possible,  and  she  was  in 
a  constant  glow  of  cherubic  bliss, 
until  the  day  of  reckoning  came. 

She  lay  on  her  cot  and  was 
103 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

crudely,  simply  sick.  Her  eyes 
were  sunken  and  her  cheeks 
varied  from  pale  yellow  to  fever 
ish  red.  For  the  first  time  in 
her  life  she  refused  candy. 

Her  family  and  attendants 
and  her  governing  committee 
wandered  about  the  nursery, 
each  with  one  closed  fist  hiding 
a  candy,  seeking  opportunities 
to  bend  over  the  crib,  and 
offer  the  candy  to  Marjorie, 
unseen  by  the  others.  They 
made  quite  a  procession.  Some 
one  was  bending  over  the  crib 
every  moment.  Finally  the  doc 
tor  came  and  bent  over  the  crib, 
too,  and  then  all  the  others 
joined  him. 

"That  child  is  sick,"  said  the 
104 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

doctor,    taking    her     from     the 
crib  and  concocting  a  potion. 

"We  knew  that,  doctor,"  said 
Miss  Vickers.  "We  knew  she 
was  quite  ill." 

"111!"  he  said.  "111!  I  said 
sick.  Dog  sick.  She's  overfed. 
Too  much  candy." 

"Oh!'  they  all  exclaimed. 
"Candy!  Impossible!' 

"The  rules  of  the  committee 
— "  began  the  chairman. 

"Did  she  eat  'em?"  asked 
the  doctor  savagely.  "If  she  did 
she  ought  to  be  sick.  It  makes 
me  sick  to  look  at  'em."  He 
glared  at  the  assembly.  "Which 
of  you  gave  her  candy?"  he 
asked.  There  was  no  reply. 
He  turned  to  Marjorie. 
105 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

"Like  candy?"  he  asked. 

"Yeth,"  said  Marjorie. 

"Who  gives  you  candy?'  he 
inquired.  Marjorie  looked  at 
the  faces  above  her.  She  selected 
Chiswick. 

"Chithy,"  she  declared. 

Chiswick  blushed.  The  others 
looked  at  her  in  pained  sur 
prise. 

"Who  else  gives  you  candy?' 
demanded  the  doctor. 

"Papa,"  said  Marjorie. 

Mr.  Fielding  crimsoned  and 
avoided  the  eyes  that  frowned 
at  him. 

Miss  Vickers  alone  spared 
him.  She  tossed  her  head 
defiantly. 

"I   gave  her  candy.      Lots  of 
1 06 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

it.       It's     good     for    her,"     she 
declared. 

"Who  else?"  demanded  the 
doctor. 

"Mamma,"  said  Marjorie. 

Mrs.  Fielding  put  her  hand 
kerchief  to  her  eyes.  She  was 
afraid  of  the  committee  and  hid 
weakly  behind  her  tears,  know 
ing  that  they  would  not  attack 
her  there,  but  the  committee 
was  not  considering  an  attack.  It 
was  preparing  a  graceful  retreat 
and  it  oozed  away  before  Mar 
jorie  made  its  baseness  known. 

"Doctor,"  said  Mr.  Fielding 
unsteadily,  "do  you  think  you 
can  pull  her  through?" 

The  doctor  rumbled  deep  in 
his  throat. 

107 


THE   INCUBATOR    BABY 

« Pull  her  through !  "  he 
growled.  "Pull  her  through! 
Why  don't  you  ask  me?"  he 
snapped  at  Mrs.  Fielding.  Mrs. 
Fielding  wiped  her  eyes. 

"Will  she  get  well?"  she 
asked. 

The  doctor  grew  scarlet. 

"You  ask  me?"  he  exclaimed 
at  Chiswick,  but  Chiswick  only 
looked  mutely  miserable,  and 
the  doctor  turned  and  faced 
them. 

"Pull  her  through!'  he 
growled.  "Yes,  I'll  pull  her 
through.  She's  about  as  ill  as 
I  am,  but  she's  as  sick  as  a  dog. 
Stuffed  with  candy.  I  '11  pre 
scribe —  " 

He  turned,  and,  walking  to 
1 08 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

the  wall,  tore  down  the  rules 
and  schedule  so  carefully  pre 
pared  by  the  committee.  When 
he  faced  Mr.  Fielding  again  he 
seemed  happier. 

"How's  your  mother?'  he 
asked. 

Mr.  Fielding  gasped. 

"My  mother!  "  he  stammered. 
"Why  —  why,  she's  dead." 

"How's  your  mother,  then?" 
the  doctor  asked,  turning  to 
Mrs.  Fielding. 

"Mother  is  well,  thank  you' 
she  said. 

"Good!'  the  doctor  cried. 
"I  prescribe  one  grandmother, 
one  good,  old-fashioned  grand 
mother.  And  see  that  she  isn't 
any  new-fangled  affair,  either,  or 
109 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

I'll  turn  her  out  and  go  out  on 

the  street  and   pick  one  to  suit 

»» 
me. 

Marjorie,  pale  and  big-eyed, 
looked  at  him  wonderingly. 

"An  incubator  is  all  right 
when  a  mother  won't  do,"  he 
said,  "  and  a  mother  is  all  right 
when  you  can't  get  a  grand 
mother,  but  hang  your  com 
mittees  and  your  rules!  The 
only  good  thing  about  rules  is 
to  find  exceptions  to  them. 
What  this  baby  needs  more 
than  anything  else  is  a  course 
of  good,  old-style  grandmother 
ing." 

He  buttoned  his  coat  and 
paused  to  pinch  Marjorie's  cheek. 

"We   know  what    you    want; 


1 10 


THE   INCUBATOR   BABY 

don't  we?"   he   said,  and   Mar- 
jorie  smiled  a  thin,  pale  smile. 

"Want  piece  candy,"   she  re 
plied. 


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